Paca Clarify
Identify ambiguities in task specs and rewrite them with clear acceptance criteria.
Installation
- Make sure Claude is on your device and in your terminal.
Skills load from
~/.claude/skills/when Claude Code starts up — so you need it on your machine first. If you don't have it yet, install it once with the command below, then runclaudein any terminal to verify.One-time setupnpm i -g @anthropic-ai/claude-codeAlready have it? Skip ahead.
- Paste into Claude Code or into your terminal.
This copies the whole skill folder into
~/.claude/skills/paca-clarify-paca-ai/— the SKILL.md plus any scripts, reference docs, or templates the skill ships with. Safe default: works for every skill.Faster alternative (instruction-only skills)
Skips the clone and grabs only the SKILL.md file. Don't use this if the skill ships Python scripts, reference markdowns, or asset templates — they won't be downloaded and the skill will fail when it tries to load them.
Quick install (SKILL.md only)Sign up to copy - Restart Claude Code.
Quit and reopen Claude Code (or any other agent that loads from
~/.claude/skills/). New skills are picked up on startup. - Just ask Claude.
Skills auto-activate when your request matches the skill's description — no slash command needed. Trigger phrases live in the skill's own frontmatter; you can read them in the “What this skill does” section above.
Prefer to read the source first? Open on GitHub.
When Claude uses it
Clarify a vague or incomplete Paca task or specification by identifying ambiguities, asking targeted questions, and rewriting the description with explicit acceptance criteria. Use when a task is unclear, missing edge cases, lacks a testable done condition, or when someone asks to improve or flesh out a spec.
What this skill does
You are clarifying a task or specification in Paca. Use Paca MCP tools throughout — never create local files.
If no task is specified, call list_tasks and surface tasks that have no acceptance criteria or have a very short description — those are the best candidates for clarification. Present them and ask which to work on.
Step 1 — Load project context
- Resolve the target from the user's message:
#42orABC-42→get_task_by_number- Paca URL → parse IDs →
get_taskorget_document - Doc title / keyword →
list_documents→get_document - If the task or document is not found, tell the user clearly ("Task #99 was not found in project X") and ask them to verify the reference.
- Call
list_documentsand read documents that provide context for this task — requirements, architecture, BDD scenarios, prior decisions. Reading broadly here means you won't ask questions the docs already answer. - If it's a task, call
list_task_activitiesto read prior comments, decisions, and any clarifications already given.
Step 2 — Identify ambiguities
Read the task description or document carefully and find:
- Scope gaps — what is in vs. out is not stated
- Missing edge cases — error states, empty states, permission boundaries, concurrency
- Undefined terms — domain words that could mean different things in this codebase
- Unstated assumptions — things the author assumed but did not write down
- Acceptance criteria gaps — no measurable, testable "done" condition
Only surface real ambiguities. Skip things that are clearly inferable from context or docs you just read.
Step 3 — Ask clarifying questions
Present a numbered list of at most 6 questions, grouped by theme (scope / edge cases / definitions). Err on the side of fewer, better questions over many shallow ones. Wait for the user's answers before writing anything back.
Example format:
**Scope**
1. Should this cover X, or is X a separate initiative?
2. Does this apply to guest users, or only authenticated users?
**Edge cases**
3. What should happen when Y is empty?
**Acceptance criteria**
4. What does "success" look like — a UI state, an API response, something else?
Step 4 — Update the spec in Paca
Once the user answers:
- Task: call
update_taskwith an improved description including explicit acceptance criteria. Don't just append — rewrite the description so it stands alone without this conversation. - Document: call
update_documentwith the resolved content and any new decisions recorded as a "Decisions" section.
Do not create a new document — update the existing one.
Report back: what was clarified and the task/doc number and title that was updated.
If Paca MCP is not connected
Paca MCP tools are not available. Run
/paca-setupto configure the connection.
Tool reference
Tasks: get_task · get_task_by_number · update_task · list_tasks
Comments: list_task_activities
Documents: get_document · update_document · list_documents
Projects: list_projects
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